Downside / by Brian Kunde

Downside
by Brian Kunde

They tell us the Antipodes
are just the same as here;
that down is down, and up is up;
the ground won’t lose its hold;
that you won’t fall into the sky;
and I’ve been there, and found
that yes, it’s just the way they say—
if you don’t ponder it.
But if you fall asleep, and dream,
you may wake in the clouds,
and if you happen to forget,
you might just feel your feet
depart the ground before you can
seize on to something fixed
to earth, that will not pull away
with new-found anti-weight.
What legion, down the centuries,
have thoughtlessly been lost;
have slipped the loose grip of the earth
to fall into the sun?

* * * * *

Downside

from Inversions and Variations : Various Verses, 1st ed., Dec. 2023.

1st web edition posted 8/29/2026.